Artificial sweeteners are everywhere these days.
People are using them as a low-calorie alternative to sugar while giving our sweet tooth what it desires.
From yogurt to cola to protein powders, artificial sweeteners are creeping into everyday of our diet.
There are some concerns about the negative effects of artificial sweeteners on your body and confusion over the different types of sweeteners and how they effect you on the inside.
Artificial sweeteners are a good way to curve sweet cravings, but like all other foods, not something that should be over-consumed.
I was huge on the sweeteners for a while. Crystal Lite, diet pop, sugar-free yogurts, protein powder, sugar free Jell-O, gum, etc, etc.
If it had no calories and still tasted great, I was all over it. Yum.
Then, I started feeling bloated, lethargic and head achy quite often. I checked back in my journal (because you know journaling is the way to figure things out) and I realized I was over-consuming the sweeteners.
I gave myself seven days of absolutely no sweeteners, none, nada, zero.
Yes, it was not fun for the first few days.
I had crazy sweet cravings and no way to satisfy them. But, I made a commitment to myself and I was going to get through it. That was six months ago.
Since then, I have a small diet pop once a week and a small dessert once a week and really that’s it for my sweets. No cravings, no need. I drink a lot more water and feel a lot less bloated and crampy.
As for the differences in the sweeteners you are choosing? Read on.
Sugar Alcohols: These are made by adding a hydrogen atom to sugar. They are mostly found in candy and gum. Commonly called sorbitol, xylitol, manitol, maltitol, lactitol or isomalt.
The benefit of these is that they are absorbed slowly into the system therefor your insulin is not spiked quick or high. It is recommended that you keep these types or sweeteners under 10 grams per day.
Aspartame: This, as you are probably aware, is found in literally thousands of products. It is made up of two amino acids, phenylalanine and aspartic acid. It is up to 220 times sweeter than sugar. Aspratame is also known as Equal or Sugar twin.
There was a study done on rats which said that excess amounts of aspartame caused brain tumours. Now, though this was true, the amount that they were feeding the rats were so much in excess that a 150-pound human would have to drink an excess of 10 two-litre bottles of diet pop each day for years to cause the same effect.
Now, personally, I don’t like the idea that it’s causing any negative damage to my body, but a diet pop here and there is certainly not going to destroy you. Especially if it’s what’s going to stop you from eating your son’s entire birthday cake.
Sucralose: This is an artificial sweetener that is made from sugar. Though that sounds good, I am not too sure it makes it all that much better for you. After all, it is still chemically altered and is not in it’s natural form.
The good news on Splenda (as it is otherwise known) is that it is less absorbed into your system. Splenda is used as a table-top sweetener and is stable in cooking.
Splenda, though listed as a non-calorie sweetener, is actually packaged with dextrose and maltodextrin, which add volume and calories. One teaspoon is actually 1.66 calories, but is less than 5 calories so legally can be listed as 0.
Acesulfame Potassium: Commonly known as Sweet One, this sweetener is heat stable and can be cooked and baked with. It is also listed as ACE-K. It is as sweet as aspartame and is commonly used in addition to other sweeteners to give it more of a sugar-like taste and less of the aspartame taste.
Stevia: This is a non-calorie, all natural sweetener. I know, it sounds to good to be true. It’s a plant that is used widely in Japan, Paraguay and Brazil.
Now here’s the problem: Stevia has not been approved in Canada as a food additive and therefore can only be sold as a herb.
Stevia is 300 times sweeter than sugar with no strange aftertaste. Though, it is expensive in comparison to the other products.
If you decide to try Stevia, or any of the other sweeteners for that matter, please use it in moderation. Stevia use has not been researched in North America and probably won’t be for quite some time.
